Congressional report faults NY Medicaid rate

A congressional subcommittee says New York's residential centers for the developmentally disabled cost Medicaid about $1.9 million a year for each patient and is calling for an end to federal overpayments it says total $15 billion since 1990. More from WAMC's Dave Lucas.

New York officials dispute that total, but say the decades-old reimbursement rates should change and have been the subject to talks for months.

Based on formulas designed to help de-institutionalize patients — now down to 1,169 at five institutions across New York from about 17,000 — they say the money also funds community-based programs for many of the state's 100,000 developmentally disabled.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in a report Thursday that the overpayments represent "massive waste," are likely illegal, should stop immediately and reflect lax federal oversight.